Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Skylarkin'
Company: Geffen
Catalog: 24117
Year: 1987
Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments:
Available: 1
Price: $6.00
Reknown for destroying records he'd produced for other artists, placing the group in the hands of producer Todd Rundgren seemed an open invitation to aural disaster. Perhaps due to both parties' affection for Beatles' styled rock,
"Skylarkin'" proved surprisingly successful. The outcome was an even bigger surprise given Rundgren and Partridge spent much of the recording process at each other's throats. (In fact in a series of post-LP release interviews Partridge rather ungraciously trashed Rundgren's efforts.) Having previously strived to highlight his eccentric sides, this time around material such as "Earn Enough for Us", "Season Cycle" and "That's Really Super, Supergirl" found Partridge offering up some of his most mainstream and appealing material. Moreover, long caught in Partridge's shadow, tracks such as "Grass" and "Big Day" proved Moulding was easily an equally talented contributor. The result was easily the group's most commercial and enjoyable endeavor. While the album only reached #70 in the States, it was widely praised by critics who readily drew comparisons to the Fab Four (perhaps part of the comparison stemming from the side long segues and the "Yesterday"-styled strings). A college radio staple, the album
ultimately spent some six months on the American charts. (In an odd marketing move, the collection was originally released with "Mermaid Smiled" in the track line up. On subsequent releases, the song was replaced by "Dear God.")
"Skylarkin'" track listing:
1.) Summer's Cauldron (Andy Partridge) -
2.) Grass (Colin Moulding) -
3.) The Meeting Place (Colin Moulding) -
4.) That's Really Super, Supergirl (Andy Partridge) -
5.) Ballet for a Rainy Day (Andy Partridge) -
6.) 1000 Umbrellas (Andy Partridge) -
7.) Season Cycle (Andy Partridge) -
8.) Earn Enought for Us (Andy Partridge) -
9.) Big Day (Colin Moulding) -
10.) Another Satellite (Andy Partridge) -
11.) The Bad Who Sailed Around His Soul (Andy Partridge) -
12.) Dear God (Andy Partridge) -
13.) Dying (Colin Moulding) -
14.) Sacrifical Bonfire (Colin Moulding) -
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Dear God
Company: Virgin
Catalog:
Year: 1987
Grade (cover/record): --
Comments: four track EP
Available: --
Price: --
Inexplicably, Geffen chose to follow the album with the release of the four track
"Dear God" EP. Pulling three tracks from
"Skylarkin'" ("Grass", "Earn Enough for Us" and the Partridge-penned title track (easily one of the best things he'd written)), the EP was rounded out by the previously unreleased "Extrovert" .
"Dear God" track listing:
1.) Grass (Colin Moulding) -
2.) Earn Enough for Us (Andy Partridge) -
3.) Extrovert (Andy Partridge) -
4.) Dear God (Andy Partridge) -
Rating: **** (4 stars)
Title: Oranges & Lemons
Company: Virgin
Catalog: 24218-1
Year: 1989
Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+
Comments: double album set
Available: 1
Price: $8.00
Whereas "Skylarkin'" reflected Partridge and company's growing interest in '60s
psychedelia, 1989's "Oranges & Lemons" found the band literally bathing themselves in the genre. Fabled for their agonizing fights with producers, this time the trio hired Paul Fox to man the boards. (Partridge apparently liked Fox's work on a Boy George song). The choice proved inspired. From it's
day-glo cover art, to the trippy sounds of material such as "Garden of Earthly Delights", "Here Comes President Kill Again" (baring an uncanny resemblance to solo, post-Beatles John Lennon), and "The Loving", the results made for one of the band's most engaging releases. Sure, spread across four sides, there was some needless filler - particularly sides 3 and 4. It would have made a killer single LP. That said, even some of the throwaway efforts ("Poor Skeleton Steps Out " and "Scarecrow People") were worth hearing. Elsewhere "Mayor of Simpleton", "Merely a Man" (love the horn arrangement), "King for a Day" and "One of the Millions" (the latter two reflecting two of Moulding's three contributions), underscored the trio's often overlooked knack for writing killer pop songs. Propelled by rave reviews and a limited acoustic tour of select American radio stations, the collection became the group's best selling American release, hitting #44.
"Oranges & Lemons" track listing:
1.) Garden of Earthly Delights (Andy Partridge) -
2.) The Mayor of Simpleton (Andy Partridge) -
3.) King for a Day (Chris Moulding) -
4.) Here Comes President Kill Again (Andy Partridge) -
5.) The Loving (Andy Partridge) -
6.) Poor Skeleton Steps Out (Andy Partridge) -
7.) One of the Millions (Chris Moulding) -
8.) Scarecrow People (Andy Partridge) -
9.) Merely a Man (Andy Partridge) -
10.) Cynical Days (Chris Moulding) -
11.) Across the Antheap (Andy Partridge) -
12.) Hold Me Daddy (Andy Partridge) -
13.) Pink Thing (Andy Partridge) -
14.) Minature Sun (Andy Partridge) -
15.) Chalkhills and Children (Andy Partridge) -